This Second Empire home was built at a cost of $16,000 by local contractor Francis Grimball for Henry Brigham (1811-1883) in 1879. Brigham was a native of Southborough, Massachusetts, who came to Savannah in 1835 and established himself as a merchant. As his wealth increased he was associated with several banks, eventually becoming president of the Merchants National Bank. He was also a city alderman from 1860-1876.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places
The Telfair family’s Regency townhouse, which after a bequest to the city became the first art museum in the American South, was designed by architect William Jay, and stands as one of his few surviving designs.
Alexander Telfair, portrait, public domain image via Find a Grave
Originally designed for Alexander Telfair (1789-1832), a bachelor son of early Georgia governor Edward Telfair (1735-1807), the house eventually passed to his sister Mary Telfair (1791-1875), who was known for her outstanding art collection.
Mary Telfair, contemporary photograph, public domain image via Find a Grave
Mary, who never married and was the last of the Telfairs, left the home to the Georgia Historical Society to be operated as an art museum. It was remodeled for use as a museum in 1886 by architect Detllef Lienau. It is one of three properties that now make up the Telfair Museums. Her bequests also included the Mary Telfair Women’s Hospital, now a part of St. Joseph’s Candler Hospital.
In front of the building are sculptures of Phidias, Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Perhaps the most famous work inside the museum is Sylvia Shaw Judson’s Bird Girl sculpture, known for its appearance on the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
This imposing house, located on Orleans Square, was built with the labor of enslaved men for John Henry Morel (c. 1780-1834) circa 1818. Morel was a member of one of early Savannah’s most prominent families. His grandfather, John Morel, was born to Swiss immigrant Peter Morel, in the year Savannah was established. By the 1760s John Morel owned Ossabaw Island, where he established a large plantation, cultivating indigo and harvesting vast amounts of timber, through the forced labor of enslaved men and women. He eventually acquired and resided at Beaulieu Plantation, on the Vernon River. He served on Savannah’s Council of Safety, which was central to the patriot cause during the American Revolution and was active in local government. His myriad agricultural pursuits made him one of the largest slaveholders in 18th-century Savannah, owning 155 human beings at the time of his death in 1777.
John Henry Morel married Catherine Millen Waldberg, the widow of Jacob Waldberg, in 1803, and Waldberg’s plantation Cottonham, on the Great Ogeechee Neck in Bryan County, was transferred to Morel upon their marriage. Catherine presumably died circa 1811 and Morel married Sarah Martha DeVeaux Alger. In the first two decades of the 19th century, legal proceedings indicate that Morel didn’t have his family’s economic sensibilities. He was sued multiple times for unpaid taxes and other charges, though his vast inheritances appeared to protect him from the worst of outcomes.
In 1816, he purchased the lot on which the Morel-Gilbert House was built. That same year (1818), he was appointed U. S. Marshal for Savannah. In that position, he presided over the case of the slave ship Antelope. Considering that his family’s prosperity was wholly dependent upon the institution of slavery, he was ill-suited for the case, but that was to be its trajectory. The Antelope was brought to Savannah in June 1820 after being seized by the revenue cutter Dallas off the coast of Florida for being Spanish-flagged. The 280 Africans on board were placed in Morel’s custody for seven years as the case languished in the courts. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court heard the case but with four slave-holding members on the bench at the time, was ambiguous in its ruling. They deferred to the 1808 act prohibiting the importation of slaves, but only to a point. 93 of the captives, who had already been accounted for, were condemned to slavery, while 120 were freed and sent to Liberia, establishing the colony of New Georgia. The disposition and handling of the case brought criticism from Francis Scott Key, John Quincy Adams, and Savannah’s own Richard Habersham and was an early national debacle regarding this vile institution.
After Morel’s death, the house was sold at public auction. I haven’t been able to document other owners until 1869, when it was purchased by Gilbert Butler (1797-1875). Butler, a prominent Savannah builder and architect, also served as a city alderman and fireman, and in 1853 crafted the iron fence that still surrounds Johnson Square. The house was extensively renovated during Butler’s ownership and remains an icon of Orleans Square.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places
The St. Barholomew’s Day School was constructed in 1897. It was operated by the St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church until 1916, at which time Chatham County rented the building and took over its operation. It was closed as a school in 1951 and has since served as the parish hall.
This house, which likely has several other names, was built circa 1870 when the property was under the trusteeship of George Noble. The Isle of Hope Historical Association does not indicate that Noble ever lived here. The first known residents were the Burroughs family, in the late 1800s. The next owner was Miss Mamie Jackson, who lived here for 36 years. Numerous owners have followed. It is one of the best loved houses in the neighborhood and is always well maintained. It was used as a set location for the 1974 movie, The Last of the Belles and the 1994 move, Camilla.
Isle of Hope Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The Isle of Hope Historical Association notes that this property, on the site of an old horse car station, was purchased by Alexander Perry Solomon (1857-1933) in 1875 from Dr. Stephen F. Dupon (1822-1893). When Solomon built the house he named it Liberty Hall. The Solomon family were prominent Jewish merchants and wholesale grocers in Savannah. Alexander was a director of Liberty National Bank and Trust Company, and helped organize the Metropolitan Savings and Loan Company, which later merged with Citizens Loan Company to become Citizens Bank. He was also the president of the Tybee Artesian Water, Ice, and Lighting Company.
The original facade of the house featured a projected second floor porch. Later owners added the front steps, reconfigured the porch, and added the dormers.
Note: This replaces and updates a post originally published on 13 March 2019.
Isle of Hope Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This home, which originated as a Victorian cottage in 1893, was purchased by Dr. Peter Rouse Cortelyou (1843-1902) for his son, Adrian Voorhees Cortelyou (1876-1956) circa 1901. After a fire in the 1920s, it was remodeled to its present two-story Colonial Revival/Georgian appearance. Dr. Cortelyou came to Georgia from Brooklyn, New York, in 1879 to treat a lung condition and became one of the most renowned physicians of his time in the Southeast. Adrian Cortelyou was best known as the vice-president of the Georgia Marble Company. The house remains in the family to this day.
Church Street-Cherokee Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Eclectic architecture runs the gamut of styles, and this is a good example. It has Victorian and Classical elements but overall is reminiscent of the New South Cottage type, as identified by the Georgia Historic Preservation Division in their definitive 1991 handbook, Georgia’s Living Places: Historic Houses in Their Landscaped Settings.
Whitlock Avenue Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I wasn’t able to locate a history for this house, but I love the Georgian style and couldn’t resist making a photograph. Georgian, of course, refers not to our state, but to the four British monarchs of the House of Hanover named George. And it’s also not the same as the Georgian cottage style so common in the state.
Whitlock Avenue Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This Dutch Colonial Revival cottage has been identified as the “Reid House” in the National Register of Historic Places because it was built using a design of the prominent Georgia architect Neel Reid. Real estate listings date it to 1962.
Whitlock Avenue Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
